Ask a CCCS counsellor a bankruptcy question

StepChange_James

BrandNewDay wrote: »

I want to thank the very kind people who give advice on this thread. You bring so much relief and peace of mind to people. Bless your hearts.

I have a question:

My husband and I have no joint debts. He may have to go BR. My credit and accounts will remain clear.

However, we are financially entwined in other ways.

First, our primary checking account is in my name.
Second, we are both on a council tax bill for a house he will be losing/going BR over.
Third, our electricity bill is joint, and after our last meter reading, we're technically £800 in arrears. (Not because of non-payment, but because of underestimation of useage for the past year.)

Should we try to disentangle ourselves now, before the BR ball starts rolling, if it does, in a few months?

Would the electricity situation be considered a debt, or is that just part and parcel of our new estimated monthly payment?

Hello,
Thank you for the lovely comments, I’m really glad you’ve found our posts useful.

There would be no need to change the arrangements you currently have for your finances even if your partner does go bankrupt. If you are managing the account in just your name then you could continue with this arrangement.

For the joint council tax and electricity bills you are “jointly and severally” liable, which means that if one of you doesn’t pay the bill (because of bankruptcy) then the other person has to pay the full amount back. Also, it is unlikely you would be able to take your husband’s name off either of these accounts.

I would suggest that you and your husband look to get some advice before deciding if he should go bankrupt. We can help with that. The first thing to do is visit our online debt advice service Debt Remedy (http://www.cccs.co.uk/ref/drcu) to help you find a solution to your debt problem quickly.

Debt Remedy will assist you in completing a financial statement with information on your household, employment, income, expenditure and debts. From this the service will automatically determine your options.

To help you fill in the form, it’s best to gather together information about:
• Your income
• Your expenditure
• The creditors you owe money to

You’ll receive a downloadable advice booklet providing a tailored solution for you based on your current circumstances and advice on ways you may be able to improve your situation.

If you’re not confident with computers or would like to speak to an advisor then you’re welcome to ring our Helpline on 0800 138 1111 (free including from mobiles). We’re open Monday to Friday 8am - 8pm and Saturdays 9am – 3pm.

If you phone us it may be possible to refer you directly to a counsellor for immediate advice. Alternatively, we will arrange for an appointment to be booked at a time convenient for you.

Regards

James

NewChapter_2

Hi again,

I became personally BR last week. I have been trading as a sole trader in my own name and will be carrying on this going forward.

My question is, I would like to use some of my other skills to earn money and therefore it means gaining income from different sources. I understand I must continue business under my own name unless I inform everyone I do business with of my name in which I became BR. If I became BR in my own name only, could I be trading as 'my name' t/a xx? I wouldn't be getting a business account or any other and I have always had various revenue streams.

How would I tell everyone if I had to of the name I became BR in?

This wouldn't be a Ltd company, I would still be registered as a sole trading and trading in my name only. Therefore I would probably not even need something referring to me as trading as. It would just be a name for the website for example.

Hope this makes sense!

Thank you

StepChange_James

NewChapter wrote: »

Hi again,

I became personally BR last week. I have been trading as a sole trader in my own name and will be carrying on this going forward.

My question is, I would like to use some of my other skills to earn money and therefore it means gaining income from different sources. I understand I must continue business under my own name unless I inform everyone I do business with of my name in which I became BR. If I became BR in my own name only, could I be trading as 'my name' t/a xx? I wouldn't be getting a business account or any other and I have always had various revenue streams.

How would I tell everyone if I had to of the name I became BR in?

This wouldn't be a Ltd company, I would still be registered as a sole trading and trading in my name only. Therefore I would probably not even need something referring to me as trading as. It would just be a name for the website for example.

Hope this makes sense!

Thank you

Hi,

Thanks for posting.

I'd suggest speaking to your OR about this, they will be able to give you a straight answer about the nuances behind the rules for starting a new business after bankruptcy.

My thoughts are that you should be fine with a business that clearly states your name with other bits afterwards (e.g. John Smith's Carpet Company) but I'd check to be on the safe side.

Another useful place for advice on business and debt issues is Business Debt Line (http://www.bdl.org.uk/).

Hope this helps.

James

StepChange_James

Hi everyone,

As some of you may know, we’re changing our name to StepChange Debt Charity on Monday. You can read more about the name change here: http://moneyaware.co.uk/2012/10/stepchange-debt-charity-a-step-forward/. We want to help more people out of problem debt, so we’ve changed to a more memorable name to help us achieve this.

As part of this change we’re upgrading our website, which will mean it’ll be offline tomorrow (Saturday 3rd November) from 8am. We hope to have a sparkly new website up and running again by Saturday evening and will have some exciting new features to tell you about once it’s ready.

We’ll still be providing the same expert debt advice as before and on Monday we’ll be back here answering your questions as usual.

Have a good weekend,

CCCS_James (soon to be StepChange_James)

Former_MSE_Andrea

The CCCS has re-branded to StepChange Debt Charity and we've started a new discussion thread here